It doesn't really matter that Sergiu Celibidache ran the Berliner Philharmoniker at 33, that Claudio Abbado ran la Scala at 35, that Riccardo Muti ran Maggio Musicale Fiorentino at 27 and the Philharmonia at 33: a lot of people, especially at the opera, in the last couple decades seemed to want their conductors, for some strange reason, to be old. A new crop of young conductors has emerged, thankfully: among them Edward Gardner, very 34-year-old, very British, Eton, Cambridge, and the Royal Academy of Music, is one of the more talented -- and he has one of the cooler, if more difficult, jobs. He is the Music Director of English National Opera, leading the smaller, less wealthy ENO in the same city of the giant old Covent Garden. Gardner's in good company of fellow young conductors: Dudamel, Harding, Ticciati, Jurowski.
Gardner's optimism and bright-eyed enthusiasm are infectious, and he seems to receive nice reviews and kind words from those who cross his path.
In May 2007, Edward Gardner became Music Director of the ENO, and he's one of the go-to guys for everything 20th (and 21st, actually) century -- Sibelius & Saariaho, Britten & Stravinsky (and his -- very British -- Mozart isn't too shabby, either). The ENO’s first ever staging of Britten’s Death in Venice quickly became one of his calling cards, conducted during his inaugural season.
He's been branded as the cover-boy of the crisis-stricken opera company turnaround who breathed life into the sidelined ENO, which only a handful of years ago slid into the vengeful graces of budget crises, layoffs, evaporated team spirit, intermittent strikes, general lameness and exasperating executive reshuffling. The ENO, under the short reign of Gardner, has already recovered well, and re-established itself as an affordable and experimental counterpart to London's Covent Garden, drawing young crowds and breathing life into the whole scene.
Between Gardner's insanely busy schedule, he recently graced New York City with a rare visit, and touched-down in the Big Apple to make an appearance at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, where he teamed with a handful of soloists as part of the Mostly Mozart Festival. Among the set-list of his two concerts this past weekend, he conducted Mozart's Die Zauberflöte overture, Mozart's piano concerto (no.18, featuring pianist Piotr Anderszewski's awesome cadenze) and symphony no.39. But the real treat was Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings (with tenor Toby Spence and horn soloist Lawrence DiBello). Fans of the exceedingly polite, academic, borderline boring readings of Britten beware: Gardner's interpretation is lush with chiaroscuro, while weaving a seamless narrative that paints a juicy swath. The NY Times thought so, too. [Edit: The Bernheimer also weighs in favorably.]
Maestro Edward Gardner was kind enough to sit and chat with OC while he was here in NYC. Click the link below to read the Opera Chic exclusive interview with the young maestro: